Sound Transit to administer track and signal upgrades for new Amtrak service

The Sound Transit Board has agreed to help implement improvements to Amtrak passenger rail service between Portland, Ore. and Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Under the contract, Sound Transit will manage construction activities that enable Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to improve speed and reliability by moving Amtrak service through Pierce County to a more direct and less congested track that Sound Transit owns near I-5 rather than along the Puget Sound shoreline.

Sound Transit will administer all necessary track improvements for WSDOT's Point Defiance Bypass project between Nisqually and Tacoma, a role that will minimize impacts to Sounder commuter rail service and help complete the work efficiently.

The agreements outline WSDOT's coverage of all capital costs for the bypass project while providing Sound Transit up to $34 million in federal funding toward its recently-completed D to M Street track and signal improvements project. Starting in 2017, the investments, which supported the recent extension of Sounder passenger rail service to South Tacoma and Lakewood, will also benefit Amtrak passengers. The agreements also establish parameters for the operations of Sounder and Amtrak trains on the corridor and for Sound Transit's maintenance of the tracks.